Comments on: Some Patriots’ Day Thoughts on Militias and Tyrants http://jeffmatherphotography.com/dispatches/2010/04/some-patriots-day-thoughts-on-militias-and-tyrants/ The Post-9-to-5 Life of an International Playboy Sun, 20 May 2012 16:44:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Jeff Mather http://jeffmatherphotography.com/dispatches/2010/04/some-patriots-day-thoughts-on-militias-and-tyrants/comment-page-1/#comment-27581 Jeff Mather Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:27:44 +0000 http://jeffmatherphotography.com/dispatches/?p=705#comment-27581 Mr. Halverson, that's a well-articulated position. We don't necessarily agree with respect to the 2nd Amendment, but it's more-or-less settled law now; although it's going to be litigated quite a bit more, I suspect, as gun-owner groups try to dismantle the rest of the "well-regulated" portion of the amendment, and gun safety groups push back. It will be interesting to see where the line actually ends up. It will probably keep moving around forever as the population's views change. But I don't see the connection between tyranny and withheld taxes. Personally, I don't mind the idea of taxation nor the process of withholding. Of course, I wish there were less waste in government, but I appreciate many of the things that my taxes buy. I believe that reasonable people can have an honest disagreement about what their taxes do, and I'm glad that we live in a country where those disagreements are settled at the ballot box and don't just fester under the surface until they break out in revolution. Changing the method and amount of taxation is within our ability, of course. And I'm glad that we almost everyone acknowledges the Constitutional right of the federal government and states to levy taxes. What I find most troubling in America today is the feeling of powerlessness in front of our elected officials, and I don't think that the time when taxes are levied really has much of anything to do with whether legislators and officials listen to our wishes. With that said, I don't have much of a suggestion for fixing the (in my opinion) very real problem of politicians' disinterest in the lives and wishes of the electorate. The best I think we can do is to be informed about what our legislators do, contact them with our positions, hold them accountable at the ballot box, help get the people we hope will listen elected, and struggle on. It's not a very satisfying "solution," but I think it's better than expecting the presence of guns in the hands of the electorate to actually do anything constructive in the political sphere. Mr. Halverson, that’s a well-articulated position. We don’t necessarily agree with respect to the 2nd Amendment, but it’s more-or-less settled law now; although it’s going to be litigated quite a bit more, I suspect, as gun-owner groups try to dismantle the rest of the “well-regulated” portion of the amendment, and gun safety groups push back. It will be interesting to see where the line actually ends up. It will probably keep moving around forever as the population’s views change.

But I don’t see the connection between tyranny and withheld taxes. Personally, I don’t mind the idea of taxation nor the process of withholding. Of course, I wish there were less waste in government, but I appreciate many of the things that my taxes buy. I believe that reasonable people can have an honest disagreement about what their taxes do, and I’m glad that we live in a country where those disagreements are settled at the ballot box and don’t just fester under the surface until they break out in revolution.

Changing the method and amount of taxation is within our ability, of course. And I’m glad that we almost everyone acknowledges the Constitutional right of the federal government and states to levy taxes. What I find most troubling in America today is the feeling of powerlessness in front of our elected officials, and I don’t think that the time when taxes are levied really has much of anything to do with whether legislators and officials listen to our wishes.

With that said, I don’t have much of a suggestion for fixing the (in my opinion) very real problem of politicians’ disinterest in the lives and wishes of the electorate. The best I think we can do is to be informed about what our legislators do, contact them with our positions, hold them accountable at the ballot box, help get the people we hope will listen elected, and struggle on. It’s not a very satisfying “solution,” but I think it’s better than expecting the presence of guns in the hands of the electorate to actually do anything constructive in the political sphere.

]]> By: WJ Halverson http://jeffmatherphotography.com/dispatches/2010/04/some-patriots-day-thoughts-on-militias-and-tyrants/comment-page-1/#comment-27575 WJ Halverson Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:03:08 +0000 http://jeffmatherphotography.com/dispatches/?p=705#comment-27575 So where did militias come from in the first place? I was surprised to learn Ben Franklin set up the concept in the mid 1700's in response to the unwillingness of the Penns and the British crown to defend Philadelphia from either the Indians or the French & Spanish raiders that disrupted trade. He chose not to become a tyrant, although at that time the Penns' administrator thought he might. And so far forward to last year's important 2nd Amendment decision which (I hope) settled the question on whether or not individuals have a right to keep [own] and bear [carry around and use for legal purposes] firearms. I was interested by the SCOTUS decision on the Wash DC second Amendment case. They dug back into history to explain why the amendment was needed as a remedy to prevent the rise of a tyrannous government. Seems English kings would go to parts of the countryside with large bodies of troops and disarm the local population, hoping that would make insurrection harder. So with that English fact in mind, our 2nd Amendment was inserted to make it harder for a despot to disarm the population. But how would that work out today? We don't ever see a tax collector, like they in during the Shay's rebellion. Withholding taxes and electronic banking means we have no protection from a despot or a tyrant. They will take our money whenever they want to. Firearms are no longer a protection from a tyrant, as any of us who get a W-2 have known for years. But SCOTUS did not even address this! And here is the sad thing: by focusing on the right to bear arms, we have been distracted from the reality that as long as our taxes are taken from us _in advance_, we will never be able to get the attention of politicians or government to listen to our concerns. So where did militias come from in the first place? I was surprised to learn Ben Franklin set up the concept in the mid 1700′s in response to the unwillingness of the Penns and the British crown to defend Philadelphia from either the Indians or the French & Spanish raiders that disrupted trade.

He chose not to become a tyrant, although at that time the Penns’ administrator thought he might.

And so far forward to last year’s important 2nd Amendment decision which (I hope) settled the question on whether or not individuals have a right to keep [own] and bear [carry around and use for legal purposes] firearms.

I was interested by the SCOTUS decision on the Wash DC second Amendment case. They dug back into history to explain why the amendment was needed as a remedy to prevent the rise of a tyrannous government. Seems English kings would go to parts of the countryside with large bodies of troops and disarm the local population, hoping that would make insurrection harder. So with that English fact in mind, our 2nd Amendment was inserted to make it harder for a despot to disarm the population.

But how would that work out today? We don’t ever see a tax collector, like they in during the Shay’s rebellion. Withholding taxes and electronic banking means we have no protection from a despot or a tyrant. They will take our money whenever they want to. Firearms are no longer a protection from a tyrant, as any of us who get a W-2 have known for years.

But SCOTUS did not even address this!

And here is the sad thing: by focusing on the right to bear arms, we have been distracted from the reality that as long as our taxes are taken from us _in advance_, we will never be able to get the attention of politicians or government to listen to our concerns.

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